It took him the better part of three months, but Michael Chavis learned what many before him have discovered: the road back to the major leagues isn't wide open if you intend to play first base in Los Angeles.
Chavis, the former Boston Red Sox prospect who signed a minor league contract with the Dodgers in February, played 63 games with Triple-A Oklahoma City this year. He put up respectable numbers in the hitter-friendly Pacific Coast League: a .291/.350/.547 slash line to go with 13 home runs and 45 RBIs in 63 games.
Chavis also played some second base and third base — positions that failed to improve his chances of reaching the majors with the Chicago White Sox and Seattle Mariners in 2024.
So it was in Los Angeles, where first baseman Freddie Freeman is under contract through 2027 en route to a place in the Baseball Hall of Fame. Injuries to third baseman Max Muncy and second baseman/outfielder Tommy Edman, as well as the occasional offensive struggles of infielders Kiké Hernández, Miguel Rojas, Hyeseong Kim, and Chris Taylor — who was ultimately released — failed to provide a path for Chavis.
On July 4, Chavis was placed on the temporary inactive list. Four days later, he was released. Wednesday, reports out of Japan emerged that Chavis was on his way to Nippon Professional Baseball.
The Chunichi Dragons announced they have signed Chavis, 29, for the remainder of the season.
Chavis hasn’t played at the Major League level since 2023 with the Washington Nationals, a surprising outcome for a once-highly touted prospect.
Boston selected Chavis with the 26th overall pick in the 2014 MLB draft. He hit well enough in the minors to be selected as the No. 85 prospect in the league in 2018 by Baseball America, and No. 79 by MLB Pipeline.
But Chavis wore out his welcome in Boston after playing 168 games over three seasons (2019-2021). In what amounted to little more than a full season's worth of games, Chavis hit 25 home runs, 83 RBIs, and hit .234.
What Chavis offered in power also came with 209 strikeouts, and in July 2021 he was traded to the Pittsburgh Pirates for pitcher Austin Davis.
Chavis still has been prone to strike out, as evidenced by his 23.3 percentage at Triple-A. So has the parent club. The Dodgers snapped a worrisome seven-game losing streak Saturday and had been outscored 44-10 in six of those games, collectively striking out in 27.3 percent of their plate appearances.
Could Chavis have helped stem the bleeding? A very real question a week ago is now a moot point.
